gig

¹ American  

[gig] / gɪg /

noun

1. a single professional engagement of one or more performers, especially of jazz or rock musicians.

   His band has a gig at a club in New Jersey.

2. a live performance, as on a stage.

   I went to see my friend's comedy gig.

3. any job, especially one of short or uncertain duration.

   Years ago he had a teaching gig out west somewhere.

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adjective

1. relating to or being a job of short or uncertain duration.

   Gig workers don't receive benefits such as health insurance.

verb (used without object)

gigged, gigging

1. to work as a musician or other performer, especially in a single engagement.

   That vocalist has gigged with some of the biggest names in the business.

2. to work at any job, especially one of short or uncertain duration.

   He gigs as a clown at children’s birthday parties.

gig ² American  

[gig] / gɪg /

noun

Informal.

1. short for gigabyte.

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gig ³ American  

[gig] / gɪg /

noun

1. a light, two-wheeled one-horse carriage.

2. Nautical.

   1. a light boat rowed with four, six, or eight long oars.

   2. a boat reserved for the use of the captain of a ship.

3. something that whirls.

4. Also called gig mill. a roller containing teasels, used for raising nap on a fabric.

5. Obsolete. whirligig.

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verb (used without object)

gigged, gigging

1. to ride in a gig.

2. to raise the nap on (a fabric).

gig ⁴ American  

[gig] / gɪg /

noun

1. a device, commonly four hooks secured back to back, for dragging through a school of fish to hook them through the body.

2. a spearlike device with a long, thick handle, used for spearing fish and frogs.

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verb (used with object)

gigged, gigging

1. to catch or spear (a fish or frog) with a gig.

verb (used without object)

gigged, gigging

1. to catch fish or frogs with a gig.

gig ⁵ American  

[gig] / gɪg /

noun

1. an official report of a minor infraction of regulations, as in school or the army; a demerit.

2. a punishment for a minor infraction of rules.

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verb (used with object)

gigged, gigging

1. to give a gig to or punish with a gig.

gig ¹ British  

/ ɡɪɡ /

noun

1. a light two-wheeled one-horse carriage without a hood

2. nautical a light tender for a vessel, often for the personal use of the captain

3. a long light rowing boat, used esp for racing

4. a machine for raising the nap of a fabric

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verb

1. (intr) to travel in a gig

2. (tr) to raise the nap of (fabric)

gig ² British  

/ ɡɪɡ /

noun

1. a cluster of barbless hooks drawn through a shoal of fish to try to impale them

2. short for fishgig

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verb

1. to catch (fish) with a gig

gig ³ British  

/ ɡɪɡ /

noun

1. a job, esp a single booking for a musician, comedian, etc, to perform at a concert or club

2. the performance itself

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verb

1. (intr) to perform at a gig or gigs

gig ⁴ British  

/ ɡɪɡ /

noun

1. informal short for gigabyte

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Etymology

Origin of gig¹

First recorded in 1925–30; origin uncertain

Origin of gig²

First recorded in 1985–90

Origin of gig³

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English gigge, gig “flighty girl, loose woman; awkward or boorish man”; akin to Danish gig “top”; compare Norwegian giga “to shake about”

Origin of gig⁴

First recorded in 1700–10; shortened from fishgig or fizgig

Origin of gig⁵

First recorded in 1940–45; origin uncertain

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Explanation

A gig is a band's musical performance or an appointment for such a performance. Your band's first gig might be playing at a high school prom. Performers of various kinds book gigs: they arrange to do a show at a specific place and time. If you're a standup comedian, you might dream of a gig at a big concert hall, but have to be satisfied with gigs in church basements and coffee shops. Sometimes people who do freelance work also refer to jobs as gigs. The word comes from early 20th century jazz slang.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gig gigged gigging

The total number of people with flexible employment, like gig workers, is expected to rise to 320 million in China this year, according to the think tank China New Employment Forms Research Center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Then there’s the unpleasant economic reality of gig work.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

But across Brazil millions now work in the gig economy, a phenomenon Almazan calls "Uber-isation": driving for Uber, delivering food, or running small businesses from market stalls to providing at-home beauty treatments.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Jazzy's taking her new album on tour across the UK from next month, but first she has her biggest gig yet: Dublin's 3Arena in front of a home crowd.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

His regular gig at a café in Florentin and some bartending had been enough to get him a cramped studio apartment and an American fiancée who made him feel alive, plenty enough for him.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

He gigged at Nashville nightclubs until he landed his first record contract with the support of music publisher Al Gallico; he signed with Warner Bros.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

So while “Goin’ Local” is technically Kaye’s first solo record, back in 1984, there was another project, the Lenny Kaye Connection, a quartet which gigged around New York City and environs.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

"I've never gigged there properly, so putting this tour on sale was a real fingers-crossed-behind-the-back moment," she says.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024

For 15 years, both with a band and on his own, DeBardi had gigged around Everett and Western Washington under the moniker Steel Beans in relative obscurity.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

Though of course they wouldn’t have been gigged.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

After graduating from high school in 1948, Rollins started gigging around New York and, by the early 1950s, was recording with Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, who Rollins called his “guru.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

"When they heard that we were coming over and gigging, it was just incredible the feedback we all got, it was great craic," she said.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

"We cannot lose this music as we are on the way out," pleaded Diasihilua, who has already spent 50 of his 73 years on earth gigging.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

Years before the turning point of that album, though, Weinberg was growing up in Jersey, where he was “a gigging drummer” even as a child.

From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2025

“There’s a lot of bread to be made gigging right around here in Roxbury,” Shorty explained to me.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

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Related Words

• appearance
• concert
• engagement
• recital

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